IT IS A TRADITION THAT OUR BIRDS PAIR on St Valentine's Day, and that seems about on the mark for our residents. Robins have for a while been conspicuous singing in the wood and in the hedges. The two in our garden have been keeping together for a while. The Robin's song reminds me of cool clear water flowing in twists and dribbles from an old brass garden tap. It has a touch of melancholy to it.
The Dunnock or Hedge Sparrow has a less mellow, brighter and, perhaps, a little scratchier voice. What it lacks in showy plumage it makes up for in its colourful love life, the female keeping both its regular mate and an interloper in tow. David Attenborough's The Life of Birds summarises research carried out in Scotland with the aid of colour banding to distinguish individuals.
A Mistle Thrush sings its refrain, clear and powerful enough to generate a touch of echo, a song that puts me in mind of rivulets of water trickling away in the the calm after a heavy shower (one of its colloquial names is 'stormcock'). It sings from a prominent vantage point, in this case the top of a lofty Ash, which is still holding onto some of its bunches of keys.
A pair of Mallards drop down into the canal. The drake is a constant consort to the duck, he has to be, there are always plenty of rival drakes on ready to join in the pursuit.Richard Bell,
wildlife illustrator
E-mail;'richard@daelnet.co.uk'
